Massive Argon Space Telescope (MAST): a concept of heavy time projection chamber for gamma-ray astronomy in the 100 MeV --- 1 TeV energy range

Abstract

We explore the concept of liquid Argon time projection chamber (TPC) for gamma-ray astronomy in the 100 MeV --- 1 TeV energy range. We propose a basic layout for such a telescope called MAST. Using a last-generation rocket such as Falcon Heavy, it is possible to launch a detector with the effective area and the differential sensitivity about one order of magnitude better than the Fermi-LAT ones. At the same time, the MAST concept allows for an excellent angular resolution, 3-10 times better than the Fermi-LAT one depending on the energy, and good energy resolution ($\approx$ 20 % at 100 MeV and 6-10 % for the 10 GeV --- 1 TeV energy range). We show that such a telescope would be instrumental in a broad range of long-standing astrophysical problems.

arXiv commentTo appear in Astroparticle Physics; 7 pages, 2 figures. This is the author's version of the paper and not the final typeset. Comments are very welcome!

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